In this week of giving thanks, perhaps no one has greater cause for gratitude than Chinese GM Wei Yi.
The chess gods were particularly generous in Wei’s semifinal match against Russian GM Andrey Esipenko at the FIDE World Cup 2025 knockout tournament, now wrapping up in Goa, India. The Chinese star faced almost certain elimination in his second rapid playoff game, with Esipenko needing just to win a two-pawn-up endgame to reach the finals. Also at stake in the game: a guaranteed slot in next year’s Candidates tournament to pick a challenger to reigning world champ GM Dommaraju Gukesh of India.
But searching for the knockout blow from today’s diagram, Black gifts his opponent the game, the match and the Candidates’ berth with one tragic lapse: 52. Ng4 Rg2 53. Nxh6 Rxg3 54. Nf5 Rg2 55. Rh7 Kb6 56. Ne3 (Wei generates an actual threat — Nd5+, winning the c-pawn — but Black can stay firmly on top in lines like 56…Ne1+ 57. Kc4 Re2 58. Nd5+ Kc6 59. Rxc7+ Kd6 60. Kb5 Rb2+; unfortunately, a time-pressed Esipenko overlooks the other “threat” posed by White’s move) c6??. Black resigned on the spot after White grabbed the hanging rook with 57. Nxg2.
Wei, who is playing rising Uzbek star GM Jakhovir Sindarov in the World Cup final (both have already earned slots in next spring’s eight-player Candidates field) as this is being written, is the highest-seeded player left in the 206-player field. But he has frankly acknowledged he’s had some good luck to go along with his good play as he advanced through the bracket.
Iranian GM Parham Maghsoodloo also had Wei on the ropes in their Round 4 match, turning a likely win into a loss and elimination from the tournament. In a Rubinstein Nimzo-Indian, Wei as Black gets into big trouble after the careless 17. Rad1 Na5?! (allowing the one freeing move Black must stop at all costs; better was 17…Rfd8 18. Rc1 19. Rfd1 Ne7 with a very playable defense) 18. d5!, when 18…e5 19. Nb4 Rfe8 20. Rxd5 Qx4 21. Qxc4 Nxc4 22. Rxd7 Nxb2 23. Rxa7 wins a pawn for White.
Maghsoodloo builds up an impressive center while his rooks strafe the Black queenside. But having built up a clear edge, he misses the powerful 28. Rc1! (threat: 29. Ne7+) Kh8 29. Nxa7 Rxc1+ 30. Rxc1 h6 31. Nc6, and the White pawns will be hard to stop.
Black climbs back into the fight after 28. e4?! Qg5 29. h4?! (and even here 29. e6! fxe6 30. Rxa7 Nb8 31. Qc3 Nxc6 32. dxc6 h6 33. Rd1 would have left White pressing for the win) Qg3 30. e6 (a move too late!) fxe6 31. Rxa7 Rc7, with equality.
Perhaps upset at seeing a win turn into a draw, White now turns a draw into a loss: 39. Qd4 h6! (ending all back-rank tricks) 40. h5?! (White keeps pressing when the position does not call for it) Qf7 41. g4?? (guarding the h-pawn but creating a huge hole in his own position) Qf3!, and suddenly Wei has his own attack on the White king while White’s knight on d5 faces a still-problematic pin.
It’s over on 42. Rd2 Qg3+ 43. Rg2 Qe1+ 44. Kh2 Ne6! (embarrassing the overworked White queen; now 45. Qe3 loses to 45…Qh4+ 46. Qh3 47. Kxh3 Rxd5) 45. Qxb6 Qxe5+ 46. Rg3 Rxd5, and White, a piece down with no counterplay, resigned.
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We’d like to count our own blessings this Thanksgiving week as the column begins its 35th year in The Washington Times. Thanks to both my bosses here for giving me the forum and to loyal and supportive readers who have been there through the decades.
And thanks here to chess itself, for providing a bottomless well of competitive and aesthetic pleasures to write about every Tuesday. As a little side dish to add to the banquet, we close with a fun game from the archives, played by two East European masters in the mid-1980s. It fits nicely with the honored Thanksgiving tradition of gorging and regretting.
A garden-variety Queen’s Gambit opening suddenly morphs into a game of Pac-Man, as the White and Black c-pawns start eating their way through the enemy lines: 8. cxd5 cxd4 9. dxe6? (things turn out happily for White, but this should lose; then again, we’d never reprint this game if White had gone for something sensible like 9. Nxd4 Nxd5 10. Bxe7 Nxe7 11. 0-0) dxc3! (dinner is served — both pawns now load up at the buffet) 10. exd7 cxb2 11. dxc8=Q??.
Queening while taking a piece is usually a good idea, but not in this case. White can still pull back with 11. Rb1 Qa5+ 12. Kf1 Bxd7 13. Qd2, with some hopes of holding the game.
But Black returns the favor with an ill-advised capture and queening of his own: 11…bxa1=Q??, when just winning was 11…Rxc8!; e.g. 12. Rb1 Rc1! 13. Rxc1 Qxd3! 14. Qxd3 bxc1=Q+ 15. Qd1 Bb4+ 16. Ke2 Qb2+ 17. Kf1 Ne4 18. Bh4 Rc8!, with the deadly threat of 19…Rc1 on the menu.
White now brings this action-packed miniature to an abrupt close with 12. Bxh7+!, and it’s Black who resigns, facing the loss of major material after 12…Kxh7 (Nxh7 13. Qcxd8 Qc3+ 14. Q8d2) 13. cxd8 Raxd8 14. Qxa1.
(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)
Maghsoodloo-Wei, FIDE World Cup 2025, Goa, India, November 2025
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 dxc4 8. Bxc4 c5 9. Nf3 Qc7 10. Be2 b6 11. Bb2 cxd4 12. cxd4 Ba6 13. Ne5 Bxe2 14. Qxe2 Nfd7 15. Nd3 Nc6 16. O-O Rac8 17. Rad1 Na5 18. d5 e5 19. f4 Nc4 20. fxe5 Nxb2 21. Qxb2 Qc4 22. Qd4 Qb3 23. Rb1 Qxa3 24. Ra1 Qb3 25. Rfb1 Qc2 26. Nb4 Qg6 27. Nc6 Rfe8 28. e4 Qg5 29. h4 Qg3 30. e6 fxe6 31. Rxa7 Rc7 32. Rxc7 Qxc7 33. e5 Nc5 34. Rf1 Qd7 35. Nb4 exd5 36. Nxd5 Rd8 37. Rd1 Kh8 38. Qc4 Qe6 39. Qd4 h6 40. h5 Qf7 41. g4 Qf3 42. Rd2 Qg3+ 43. Rg2 Qe1+ 44. Kh2 Ne6 45. Qxb6 Qxe5+ 46. Rg3 Rxd5 White resigns.
Novikov-Kazantsev, Perm, Russia, 1986
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 O-O 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. Bd3 c5 8. cxd5 cxd4 9. dxe6 dxc3 10. exd7 cxb2 11. dxc8=Q bxa1=Q 12. Bxh7+ Black resigns.
• Got a hot tip or a cool game to share? David R. Sands can be reached at davidrsands18@gmail.com.
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